A t its heart, The Brethren is full of warnings for our society. The novel displays a frightening distrust of American officials and government. The three blackmailers are former judges of varying levels from different states, suggesting widespread corruption among our justice system officials. Not only are they all guilty of crimes to begin with, showing great fallibility in those most trusted to safeguard justice, but they have dedicated themselves to full-time crime in prison. While all were caught by the system, the sense conveyed is that they are not exceptional but typical, and any confidence the legal system regains by the fact that they were caught and convicted is lost when we see the innocent Buster in prison because of the poor judgment of a prosecutor and yet another judge.

The novel includes lawyers in its indictment of legal professionals with its portrayal of the...